DRW Securities LLC Buys Shares of 8,400 Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWN. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 173.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Northwest Natural during the first quarter worth $32,000. CWM LLC raised its position in Northwest Natural by 686.5% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Northwest Natural by 12,044.4% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural in the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on NWN. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NWN stock opened at $39.96 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.53 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Northwest Natural Holding has a 12-month low of $34.82 and a 12-month high of $41.20.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.06. Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 6.31% and a net margin of 7.18%. The firm had revenue of $211.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.488 dividend. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.53%.

Northwest Natural Company Profile

Northwest Natural Holding Company, through its subsidiary, Northwest Natural Gas Company, provides regulated natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the United States. The company operates a mist gas storage facility contracted to other utilities, third-party marketers, and electric generators; offers natural gas asset management services; and operates an appliance retail center.